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Crystal Harper
Crystal Abigail Madsen (née Harper; born July 21, 1982), known professionally as Crystal Harper, is an American country music singer, songwriter and platinum recording artist. In 2005 Harper released her debut album, Crystalized, which was a commercial success and established herself in the pop music industry. The release of its first single, "Only for a Moment" (2004) broke The Beatles' record for the biggest leap to number one, from 52, in the history of the Billboard Hot 100 chart. In recent years Harper has shifted away from pop music and more into country music. Early life Crystal was born and raised in New York City, her mother Julie Torrez was a nurse while her father, Ryan Harper was a photographer. At an early age Crystal wanted to be a singer, as she would sing in her bedroom and shortly after graduating high school she turned her garage into a studio and would write songs. Crystal is an only child and had a history of being bullied in her school mostly due to her choice of clothing and hairstyles. After finished college Crystal pursued her dream of being a singer and started doing a few shows on Broadway before impressing a representative from the RCA label who instantly signed her. Music career 2004–05: Crystalized After being signed by RCA, Crystal began work on her debut album Crystalized she wrote all of the songs herself and described the album as her way of expressing how she feels about the world as a whole and also was a little bit about her childhood. The first single "Only for a Moment" was released in 2004 and went on to break The Beatles' record for the biggest leap to number one, from 52, in the history of the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The album debuted at number one on the American Billboard 200 selling 297,000 copies. The album went on to be certified double platinum, with almost 3 million copies shipped. Crystalized included three cover tracks, "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" originally by Aretha Franklin, "Some Kind of Miracle" originally sung by Puff Johnson and "Just Missed the Train" by Danielle Brisebois. "Just Missed the Train" was previously covered by Carly Smithson (then Carly Hennessy), who worked on much of her album with Brisebois. Crystalized had sold 2,745,000 copies in the U.S. In Canada Crystalized was certified platinum for 100,000 copies shipped. The album has sold over 4.5 million copies worldwide according to Nielsen Soundcheck worldwide scans. Harper won the MTV Music Award for Breakthrough Star of the Year. 2006–09: Day After Tomorrow Crystal took more creative control with her second studio album Day After Tomorrow, to develop a more rock-oriented image. Harper co-wrote six of the songs with songwriters such as former Evanescence band members Ben Moody, David Hodges and producer Max Martin; the title track was co-written by punk-pop singer Avril Lavigne. Day After Tomorrow was released by RCA Records on November 30, 2006. The album debuted within the U.S. top five and Canadian top ten, but sales were initially low in comparison to Crystalized. The singles from Day After Tomorrow were very successful, and the album became only the fourth album in history to stay in the Billboard 200 top 20 for a consecutive year, as well as being certified six times platinum in the U.S. in late 2007 and five times platinum in Canada in May 2007. With worldwide sales of over 12 million copies, Day After Tomorrow was the most successful album by an artist within her first few years. 2010–2012: Stronger Harper began writing new material for her third studio album, Stronger in November 2009 while touring and finished recording in February 2011. For the recording sessions, Harper drew inspiration from Tina Turner, Prince, Radiohead and Sheryl Crow among others. Harper also mixed R&B, country, urban, dance-pop and soul with her established pop rock character to develop a more diverse pop music material. The album's lyrical content mainly explores themes about heartbreak, vengeance, forgiveness and empowerment using metaphors about Harper's relationships around people. The record is predominantly a pop rock and pop music album, with several music critics noting the predominant R&B and country influences Harper explored in Crystalized and Day After Tomorrow as well as dance-pop themes which Harper has newly developed. Originally planned to be released in late 2010, the release date of the album was pushed back several times. Upon its release, Stronger received mostly favorable reviews from critics, who noted the album's un-risky progression unlike her previous albums but notably praising Harper's vocal performance. In the United Kingdom, the album debuted at number five, with over 30,000 in sales. In the United States, the album debuted at number two and sold over 163,000 copies. The album's release was preceded by the lead single "Mr. Know It All", which was released on September 5, 2011. The song, originally perceived as a moderate success, peaked at number ten on the Billboard Hot 100, number four on the UK Singles charts, and number one on the Australian Charts. The second single, "Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)", has topped the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Harper's third number-one single in the United States. "Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)" has also peaked at number eight in the United Kingdom, number eighteen in Australia and number four in both Canada and New Zealand. 2012–present: Move to country and musical hiatus Harper announced at the 2012 American Music Awards on November 18, 2012 that she was currently in the process of writing her fourth studio album and that it was going to be different than her previous albums as she's shifting away from Pop-Rock and wanting to try doing a Country album. However she later announced that she was taking a hiatus from music to focus on motherhood. Artistry Vocal ability Harper possesses the vocal range of a soprano; which has been described as dynamic and robust, her talents and abilities have also been met with praise from critics and celebrities alike. On an interview with Good Morning America, Simon Cowell was asked of the nominations for Breakthrough artist of the year, who he thought had the best voice. Cowell immediately answered that Harper did "by a mile", noting that she was "up there" with other great singers such as Celine Dion. Arion Berger of Rolling Stone has said of Harper that "her high notes are sweet and pillowy, her growl is bone-shaking and sexy, and her midrange is amazingly confident. Dr. Luke, a songwriter and producer of some of Harper's hits stated that "She has powerful lungs. She's like the Lance Armstrong of vocal cords." Jon Caramanica, music critic of The New York Times, stated that Harper's voice is "too huge, too violent" for warmer and sweeter vocal stylings, stating "she’s on a par with Taylor Swift when it comes to vengeance, and she’ll do it louder and with more brutality in comparison to her contemporary." Esquire wrote that Harper has “the best voice in the history of pop music". Influences Harper has often cited soul musicians such as Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey and Etta James as well as rock musicians Radiohead, Garbage, Aerosmith, and Jimi Hendrix as her influences. Harper also said that she has been influenced by Tina Turner and Annie Lennox. At age eight, Harper was first inspired to venture into music during visit to an African-American church in Fort Worth. She recalled: "I was like, 'Wow, whatever they're feeling, I want to feel it too'. Personal life Harper's parents ended up divorcing in April 2009 after being married for 20 years. Harper has always feared that she'll make that same mistake as her parents so she was quite hesitant when it came to relationships and focused more on her career. Despite this in 2005 it was reported that Harper was currently dating Alex Madsen. After dating for two and a half years the couple announced their engagement. On April 21, 2008 Harper married Madsen in a small ceremony in New York City with a few friends in attendance. In March 2010, Harper's husband pursued a career in professional wrestling after completing his training at Shawn Michael's Wrestling School. In September 2010 it was revealed that Crystal was pregnant with the couple's first child. On May 3, 2011 Crystal gave birth to a baby boy, Ryan Christopher Madsen who weighted in at 7 1/2 pounds. The child's first name is taken from Crystal's father who died of cancer on March 21, 2011. The child's middle name is taken from Alex's father, Chris. In May 2012, Harper announced that she and her husband were expecting their second child due in early-mid February 2013. On January 31, 2013, Crystal gave birth to a baby girl, Kassandra Louise Madsen a week earlier than expected who weighted in at 9 pounds. Crystal and her husband announced that they were separating in 2013. Both filed for divorce and the divorce was finalized in late 2014. The two keep an amicable relationship for the sake of their two kids and share joint custody of them. Discography * Crystalized (2005) * Day After Tomorrow (2006) * Stronger (2011) Tours *Crystallized Tour (2005–2006) *Day After Tomorrow Tour (2007–2008) *Stronger Tour (2011–2012) Awards * MTV Music Award for Breakthrough Artist of the Year (2005) * American Music Award for Album of the Year (2012)